


A Little Birdie Told Me

by ProfessorDumbleBrows



Category: Free!
Genre: Angsty Season 1 Rin, Fluff SeiRin, M/M, Tumblr request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 07:19:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3348455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorDumbleBrows/pseuds/ProfessorDumbleBrows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin has the highest of respect for Seijuurou. He's a fantastic swimmer, a nice guy, and... really attractive? Soon, Rin realizes what his feelings are toward his senpai and when confronted with having to tell him, he found it didn't turn up exactly how he thought it would.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Birdie Told Me

**Author's Note:**

> New to writing for SeiRin, so apologies for any OOCness.
> 
> Requested by kanariiya on Tumblr.

“Matsuoka-senpai! Calm down!” Aiichirou exclaimed, hands flailing as he tried to get Rin to calm down.

“What the hell is your problem, Minami?!” Rin exclaimed, grabbing the poor boy by his shoulders.

“I-It was just a harmless idea!” Minami responded, eyes widened. He always heard Rin had a bad temper, but he never thought he would be on the receiving end of it.

Due to Rin’s blinding annoyance, he didn’t register the whispering around him. The words “Captain Mikoshiba is coming” did not translate well in his mind. So needless to say when he heard the third year’s voice boom through the gym, he tensed up.

Minami took this chance to slip away from Rin’s grip and ran behind Seijuurou. The male approached Rin, his usually happy composure exchanged for a more serious look. Rin stood in his place, not daring to move an inch -- with the exception of his breathing.

“Matsuoka!” The strong voice called out. “What on earth has gotten into you?”

“Captain Mikoshiba…” Rin manage to utter out. “I was just--”

“Just what?” Seijuurou interrupted. “50 laps.”

“Wha…?”

“50 laps. Now. And after practice is over, I want to speak with you.”

Rin hesitated, deciding between questioning his higher up and just doing as he was told. However, his hesitation did not last long as he saw the intense look the other was giving him. Rin slipped on his goggles and walked over to the pool. He had too much respect for Captain Mikoshiba. On top of that, he felt too strongly toward him to want to permanently stay on his bad side.

Without another thought, he dived in to begin his laps.

Seijuurou sighed, shoulders slumping for only a few seconds as he thought, “What am I going to do with him…?” The red-head quickly turned around to face the remaining members of the team and snapped, “What are you all waiting for?! We have a competition to train for!”

The other members scattered around, trying to find their place and remember what part of their training they were supposed to do for the day. Seijuurou always made sure to practice on his own time, so he didn’t need to worry about taking his eyes off his team. However, his eyes did manage to find their way to Rin again and he frowned. There was just something about Matsuoka that he couldn’t seem to figure out.

As practice went by, the minutes ticked away into hours. Evening fell and Seijuurou gathered the team to praise them for their hard work and wish them farewell for the evening. But when the rest of the team turned to leave, Rin was left standing in place. Seijuurou waited until the others were gone before he sat down on one of the benches and patted the spot next to him for Rin to join him.

The second year walked over to the bench and sat down, fingers idly moving in small circles along his knee. He was nervous, the older male figured. He chuckled softly, placing a hand on Rin’s shoulder in a friendly manner.

“You’re not in trouble.” He started.

Rin blinked, turning his head to look at his captain.

“Then why did you want to speak with me?”

“Matsuoka, listen… You’re a great swimmer. An amazing swimmer. But you’re lacking what it takes to work well in a team. You can’t just yell at your teammates if they do something stupid or wrong.” He said, pausing before adding with a grin, “That’s my job.”

The other set his lips in a straight line. Seijuurou noticed the change of expression and moved his hand from Rin’s shoulder to the back of his neck. “Basically… I’m just trying to say that you have to calm down. I don’t want to kick you from the team for poor sportsmanship.”

The words Seijuurou spoke… They were familiar to Rin. They’ve had similar conversations before, all at different times for different reasons. But it always came down to just the two of them sitting side by side and discussing Rin’s poor behavior.

His lips turned, a frown settling on his face now. “I’m sorry.” He apologized. “I’ll try harder.”

“That’s all I want.” Sei smiled. He gave Rin’s back a hard pat and got up from the bench. “It’s already late, kind of kept you guys a little longer than I should have. Why don’t we go grab a bite to eat?” He offered.

For some unknown reason, Rin felt his chest tighten up at the offer. But he nodded and got up from the bench. “Sounds good to me.”

**~ * ~**

Three weeks passed since their last one on one conversation. In between that time, Rin had truly been trying his best to keep his lips shut and just focus on swimming. But as the days passed, it was becoming difficult. And maybe all of his built up silence is what left Rin in the situation he ended up in.

The swimmer had one of his teammates pinned against the wall. The blond swimmer squirmed, trying to find a way to slip out of his sports jacket so he could get away. He never meant to comment negatively on his swimming, he was just making an observation. Rin gritted his teeth, his hands tightening around the collar of the sports jacket.

“You don’t know anything about the way I swim, about what I did to get this far!” He said, his voice rough with growing anger.

“I’m sorry, Matsuoka-kun! I was just making an observation. Not trying to insult your swimming technique!”

Rin opened his mouth, ready to let go of whatever profanity was about to run free. But the hand on his shoulder stopped him. He let go of his teammate and shrugged off the hand, turning quickly as though he was ready to fight. And that’s when he froze. Seijuurou was standing in front of him now, a frown on his lips and disappointment in his eyes.

“Captain--”

Where Rin expected him to tell him they would talk later, Seijuurou only turned around and dismissed the others to leave. He made his way toward the exit and Rin watched him as he left. If it were not for Aiichirou calling out to him, he wouldn’t have moved from his frozen state.

**~ * ~**

“Matsuoka-senpai, is everything okay?” Ai asked, blinking at Rin as he dried his hair.

“Yeah, why you ask?” He responded, draping his towel over his shoulders.

“You’ve been acting a little strange during practice lately.”

“What do you mean? I’ve been acting normal.”

Aiichirou pressed his lips in a straight line before saying, “You’ve just been so upset lately?” His words were unsure, as though he was still trying to figure them out himself.

Rin shrugged the thought off. He was acting normal, at least that’s what he believed. Maybe he had been acting up every few weeks, but who didn’t?

“Maybe Captain Mikoshiba can help?” Ai offered.

The older teen felt his chest tighten up at the suggestion. He furrowed his eyebrows at the reaction and took a deep breath to loosen the muscles again. “Maybe. Who knows?” He managed.

“Have you been trying to get his attention?” Aiichirou suddenly asked.

“What?”

“I-I was just thinking… Maybe you were subconsciously trying to get Captain Mikoshiba’s attention.”

Narrowing his eyes dangerously at the silver haired boy, Rin gripped at his towel. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re not denying it!” The other accused.

“ _Shut up._ ” Rin snapped.

Nitori let out a small squeak and covered his mouth. He frowned behind his hands and turned, facing his desk instead. Meanwhile, the red head was trying to figure out just what did he mean. Subconsciously trying to get attention? Yeah right.

But little did Rin know, Aiichirou was actually on to something.

**~ * ~**

“You wanted to speak with me…?” Rin asked, mumbling an ‘Again’ under his breath as he stood in front of Seijuurou’s doorway.

“Yeah. Come in.” He said, stepping aside to let the second year in.

Rin stepped in, slipping his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. A week had passed since the last incident; he thought he was calming down again but he just didn’t know how to deal with his new found feelings toward the older male. Once in the room and hearing the door shut, he turned around to look at his captain.

“Is everything okay, Matsuoka?” The other asked, stepping over to the bed and sitting on the bottom bunk. He gestured to the chair across from him and Rin shifted over to sit down.

“Uh, yeah. Aside from Nitori being messy, all has been well.”

“Then why have you been trying to pick fights with your teammates?”

Rin flinched at the direct question. “I haven’t…”

A loud sigh interrupted him. “Don’t say you haven’t been picking fights. Just tell me the truth, okay? I’m your captain and a friend, you should be able to come to me even for a problem.”

Hesitating to speak, he simply stared at the floor. What was he going to say? Now it was his turn to sigh, a ridiculous idea coming to his mind.

“I may or may not be dealing with some emotions…” He responded bashfully. “And I don’t know how to deal with them.”

Seijuurou blinked. “What?” He said, perking up a bit. “Wait a second, emotions? Like… what kind of emotions?”

“...A crush?”

Suddenly, the other laughed. “Whoa, I didn’t think you would actually have a crush on someone! But how does that affect why you’ve been intimidating the others?”

Rin leaned against the back of the chair and looked up at the ceiling. “Nitori said I might have been trying to get his attention.” He shrugged, trying not to show any reaction to his stomach doing flips inside him.

“Who is this person?” Sei suddenly asked. He blinked, realizing that was inappropriate to ask that out of the blue. “I mean, it seems like someone who’s on the team if you only ever do this during practice. As captain, I have a right to know, right?”

Rin tensed up in his seat. The flips of butterflies in his stomach turned into moths and he felt cornered suddenly. Should he lie? Should he tell the truth? Without looking at Seijuurou, he already knew those golden eyes were focused on him and him alone. He took a deep breath, looking at the wall behind the other and bringing a hand to rub the back of his neck.

“Ah. Well. It’s someone you know.” He started.

“What year?” His curiosity was peaked.

“Third.”

“So that leaves…” His voice trailed off as he begun mouthing the names of his fellow third years.

Not being able to handle the tense air anymore, Rin stood up and turned toward the door. He was ready to take a step when Seijuurou’s voice caught his attention.

“You know, I’m not a fool.”

“Huh?”

“Nitori-kun told me about your situation.” He stated. “Though he wasn’t very clear now that I think about it.”

Rin stared at the door and asked, “How much did he tell you?”

“How come you didn’t just confront me about your feelings?”

“Don’t answer my question with a question!” Rin snapped, turning around to face him.

Much to Rin’s surprise, Seijuurou was smiling. He was expecting no emotion, confusion, even disgust. But a smile? That was the last thing in his mind.

“And now you’re _smiling_? What the hell?!” Rin exclaimed, hands balling into fists at his sides. “Do you find some kind of amusement from finding this out?! Do you know how hard it was to actually come to grips with this?!”

Without realizing it, tears began to roll down Rin’s face. He frowned, sniffled, and gulped the dry lump in his throat. “I-I’m leaving.” His voice cracked and he turned around again, this time not hesitating to make his way to the door.

“Matsuoka! Wait!” Seijuurou called out, quickly pushing himself up from the bed and striding behind him.

As Rin reached for the doorknob, he flinched at the hand that suddenly slammed against the door. Eyes widening, he looked at the hand before looking over his shoulder to see Seijuurou standing right behind him.

“Captain, please let me lea--”

“No.”

Ready to ask why not, the older teen placed a hand on Rin’s shoulder to urge him to turn around. After Rin was facing him, he removed his hand from the door and brought it to rub the back of his neck. He looked away before he began to speak.

“Look… I. I never really thought about you that way.” He started. “But I do have a great amount of respect for you and I do appreciate having you around.” A pause as he tried to settled his thoughts. “And if I had to be honest with myself, I guess I do find you attractive. This is all new to me, just like I’m sure how it was new to you.”

Seijuurou looked up at Rin, an almost childlike bashfulness to his eyes. “We can try to work this out if you really do feel strongly about me.”

“...What?”

“I’m basically trying to say that I’ll go out with you. Look, don’t make this more awkward than it has to be, Matsuo-- Why are you crying again?!”

“A-Are you being serious right now?” Rin asked, wiping his eyes.

“What? Yeah! Of course!” He looked around, thinking what he should do. If it was a girl, he figured it would be easier to deal with but… Seijuurou sighed and decided to make a bold move, figuring he would have to prove himself. He reached out and brought Rin closer, pulling him into a hug.

It felt… awkward. But it also felt right. As though he was supposed to do this.

“I really meant what I said. Let’s just… take things slow, I guess?”

He heard a sniffle and a meek, “Okay.” Smiling, Seijuurou let Rin go.

“Good! Now how about we go to one of the diners for dinner tonight? Since we usually stick to the cafeteria, let’s change things up. My treat.”

“Mikoshiba, are you asking me out on a date?” Rin asked, wiping his eyes again and raising an eyebrow at the other.

“Not if you’re going to call me ‘Mikoshiba’. It’s Seijuurou, okay?”

“Only if you call me Rin.”

A laugh and he nodded, “You got it! Meet me at the front gate in 10 minutes?”

“Sure.” Rin responded, a small smile of his own.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and/or comment/bookmark if you enjoyed it! Highly appreciated~


End file.
